The use of computer systems and computer-related technologies continues to increase at a rapid pace. This increased use of computer systems has influenced the advances made to computer-related technologies. Indeed, computer systems have increasingly become an integral part of the business world and the activities of individual consumers. Computer systems may be used to carry out several business, industry, and academic endeavors. The wide-spread use of computers has been accelerated by the increased use of computer networks, including the Internet. Many businesses use one or more computer networks to communicate and share data between the various computers connected to the networks. The productivity and efficiency of employees often requires human and computer interaction.
Users of computer technologies continue to demand that the efficiency of these technologies increase. These demands include demands to improve the ability to communicate with other users of computer technologies. For example, social networking websites allow users to communicate with each other. A user of these sites may establish “contacts” which may be family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, friends of friends, etc. of the user. In addition, address book features of certain applications (such as email applications) allow a user to store contact information for family, friends, co-workers, etc. The user may access his/her address book to obtain contact information for an individual when he/she desires to contact that particular individual.
The increased ease of gathering information about people, places, activities, histories, and preferences has resulted in users creating large collections of information about the people they are connected to and the ways they are connected. The volume and organization of the information often leads to ineffective use of the information.